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Boy ‘assaulted’ by Ronaldo refuses to meet the Man United star
‘If someone assaulted him in the street and then asked us to go around for dinner, we wouldn’t’
The young lad who was allegedly ‘assaulted’ by Cristiano Ronaldo during Manchester United’s away game at Everton has refused to meet the star.
The teenager alleged he was ‘assaulted’ by the footballer at Goodison Park on Saturday April 9th, and has declined Ronaldo’s invitation to Old Trafford.
It’s now been confirmed that the police are looking into the incident, after video appearing to show the Man United forward slapping a phone out of a fan’s hands went viral.
The fan’s mum, Sarah Kelly, has since revealed the phone belonged to her 14-year-old son Jake Harding, and has claimed Ronaldo ‘assaulted’ him and bruised his hand.
In response to the incident she says one of the Portuguese international’s representatives phoned her up to invite her and Jake to meet him at Old Trafford.
Sarah told the Liverpool Echo: “The way I see it is, if someone assaulted him in the street and then asked us to go around for dinner, we wouldn’t.
“Just because he’s Cristiano Ronaldo, why would we do it? It’s like we owe him a favour, but I’m sorry, we don’t.”
She added: “We’ve kindly declined the offer to go to United because Jake doesn’t want to go there and he doesn’t want to see Ronaldo. He’s made that pretty clear.
“It’s affected him more than it’s affected me, so I have put everything to him to make his own mind up on – he doesn’t want to go to United, he doesn’t want to go to see Ronaldo.
“All that I’m saying right now is that it’s in the hands of the police.”
Ronaldo apologised for his ‘outburst’ via Instagram on Saturday night, writing: “It’s never easy to deal with emotions in difficult moments such as the one we are facing.
“Nevertheless, we always have to be respectful, patient and set the example for all the youngsters who love the beautiful game.
“I would like to apologize for my outburst and, if possible, I would like to invite this supporter to watch a game at Old Trafford as a sign of fair-play and sportsmanship.”
Merseyside Police confirmed it’s investigating reports that a boy was allegedly assaulted by a player from the away team on Saturday.